[BN] the know

3 rural hospitals receive grants

Three rural Western New York “safety net” hospitals have received grants from the State Department of Health to help them maintain services as they reorganize their operations to reduce avoidable hospital stays and Medicaid costs.

They are the Wyoming County Community Health System, which operates Wyoming County Community Hospital in Warsaw and received $1,890,498; Cuba Memorial Hospital, which received $3,347,463; and TLC Health Network, which operates Lake Shore Health Care Center in Irving and received $6,656,000.

Across the state, the Health Department awarded $462 million from the Interim Access Assurance Fund (IAAF) to 22 safety net hospitals and five major public hospital systems to sustain them as they prepare to take part in the state’s new Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program.

The major public hospital systems include Erie County Medical Center, which received $8,484,000.